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Dr. Carol Tavris “Mistakes Were Made (but not by me)” Why do people dodge responsibility PAST SPEAKERS SPEAKER SERIES PRESENTS when things fall apart? Why can we see hypocrisy in others but not in ourselves? James Randi (www.randi.org) Prophecy, Divination, and Faith Healing Dr. Carol Tavris Why can’t public figures “own up” Dr. Anthony Pratkanis “Mistakes Were Made when they screw up? Selling FlimFlam (but not by me)” Dr. Eugenie Scott (www.NCSE.org) Are we all liars, or do we really Evolution vs. Creationism FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2012 believe the stories we tell? Dr. Philip Zimbardo 7:00 PM Emeritus Professor, Stanford University $15 General At some point we all make a bad decision, do The Lucifer Effect $10 with Student ID something that harms another person, or cling Brian Dunning (www.Skeptoid.com) to an outdated belief. When we do, we strive Health Scams and Myths to reduce the cognitive dissonance that results Fran and Kim Peek from feeling that we, who are smart, moral, The Real Rain Man and right, just did something that was dumb, immoral, or wrong. Dr. Michael Shermer (www.Skeptic.com) Why People Believe Weird Things In this one-hour talk based on her bestselling smithcenter.com book, social psychologist Carol Tavris, Ph.D. explains why it is difficult, and for some people SMITH CENTER AT OHLONE COLLEGE impossible, to say, “I made a terrible mistake.” 43600 Mission Blvd., The higher the stakes—emotional, financial, Fremont, CA 94539 moral—the greater that difficulty. Self-justifica- BOX OFFICE 510.659.6031 tion, the hardwired mechanism that blinds us to the possibility that we were wrong, has benefits: For more information about the Ohlone College Psychology Club, visit: It lets us sleep at night and keeps us from ohlone.edu/psychology/speakerseries torturing ourselves with regrets. But it can also block our ability to see our faults and errors. Ohlone College Psychology Department ohlone.edu/psychology Carol Tavris received her LEGEND Ph.D. in social psychology from the Disabled Parking Motorcycle Parking University of Michigan, and has Permit Vending Machine taught psychology at the University No Thru Traffic Pond of California, Los Angeles and the New School for Social Research. Bookstore She is a fellow of the American Psychological Association, the Association for 24 Psychological Science and the Center for Inquiry. SC-B Smith Center SC-D (SC) Palm She has spoken to students, psychologists, mediators, Bosque lawyers, judges, physicians, business executives, and KEY B general audiences on self-justification; science and Hyman Hall Baseball Field pseudoscience in psychology; gender and sexuality; (HH) critical thinking; and anger, among other topics. In the legal arena, Dr. Tavris has given many Softball Field CD addresses and workshops to attorneys and judges on the difference between testimony based on good psychological science and that based on pseudoscience and subjective clinical opinion. AWARDS & HONORS: Fellow Her articles, book reviews and op-eds have appeared American Psychological Association in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Charter Fellow Times Literary Supplement, and other publications. Association for Psychological Science EVENT PARKING The most convenient parking for the Smith Center is in Distinguished Media Contribution Award lots B, C, D, and E. Event parking is allowed with a Her most recent book, “Mistakes Were Made (But Not American Association of Applied and Preventive semester parking pass or a one-day permit. Disabled by ME): Why we justify foolish beliefs, bad decisions, and Psychology parking is located in lot U above the Smith Center with hurtful acts”, was coauthored with Elliot Aronson and Heritage Publications Award a parking pass or permit. If you do not have a semester American Psychological Association permit, you must purchase a $2 daily permit which is applies cognitive dissonance theory to a wide variety available from vending machines in parking lots C and D. of topics, including politics, conflicts of interest, “Movers and Shakers” Award It is possible to drop your party off closer to the theater memory (everyday and “recovered”), the criminal Southern California Library for Social Studies at Key B, and then rejoin them after parking the car. and Research justice system, police interrogation, the daycare sex-abuse epidemic, family quarrels, international Distinguished Contribution to Women’s Health Award APA Conference on Women’s Health conflicts, and business. Recognition for contributions to skepticism OHLONE COLLEGE SMITH CENTER and science Box Office Hours: For further information, please see: Center for Inquiry and the Independent Tuesday-Thursday 12 noon to 7 pm Investigations Group www.mistakesweremadebutnotbyme.com Friday-Saturday 12 noon to 5 pm Box Office opens one hour before performance and closes 30 minutes after start of performance. “Even irrefutable evidence is rarely enough to pierce the mental armor of self-justification.” Tickets are also available online: CAROL TAVRIS www.SmithCenter.com.
Recommended publications
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  • Self-Deception

    Self-Deception

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  • Marita Sturken Source: Social Text, No

    Marita Sturken Source: Social Text, No

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    Cognitive Dissonance Theory Teaches Us About Cheating, Justice, Memory, Psychotherapy, Science, and the Rest of Life by Carol Tavris & Elliot Aronson

    Self-Justification in Public and Private Spheres: What Cognitive Dissonance Theory Teaches Us about Cheating, Justice, Memory, Psychotherapy, Science, and the Rest of Life by Carol Tavris & Elliot Aronson Social psychologists Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson are authors of Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me): Why we Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts (Harcourt, 2007). Both have written widely used textbooks and general-interest books in psychology. Dr. Aronson is professor emeritus at the University of California, Santa Cruz. his year is the 50th anniversary of Leon Festinger’s powerful little book, A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance. Fifty years! How Tmany of our field’s theories have remained as potent as this one, generating so much research, let alone been the source of a question on Jeopardy? To our knowledge, not even intermittent reinforcement and the Müller-Lyer illusion have turned up on Jeopardy! Festinger (1957) defined cognitive dissonance as a state of ten- sion that occurs whenever a person holds two cognitions (ideas, attitudes, opinions) that are psychologically inconsistent, such as “Smoking is a dumb thing to do because it could kill me” and “I smoke two packs a day.” It was not only a cognitive theory but a motivational one. Dissonance produces mental discomfort, believing themselves to be competent, moral, smart, and kind, a state that is as unpleasant as hunger, and people don’t rest their efforts at reducing dissonance will be designed to preserve easy until they find a way to reduce it. The most direct way for a their positive self-images—even when that perpetuates behav- smoker to reduce dissonance is by quitting.
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    Anthony Pratkanis

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  • The High Cost of Skepticism

    The High Cost of Skepticism

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  • Undue Influence: Definitions and Applications

    Undue Influence: Definitions and Applications

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